Chris Walker, the assistant coach who has been managing the Texas Tech basketball program in the wake of Billy Gillispie’s health problems and subsequent resignation amid allegations of player abuse, on Thursday was named interim coach of the Red Raiders for the 2012-13 season.

Before joining the Texas Tech staff last year, Walker previously had worked at his alma mater Villanova plus New Mexico, UMass, Pepperdine, Vanderbilt and Loyola Marymount. In his 17 years as a college assistant, Walker has been on the staff of eight NCAA Tournament teams.

"(Walker) has coached in a number of conferences and under a number of head coaches," Villanova coach Jay Wright told ESPN this week. "He has been taking notes from everyone he works for and creating his own philosophy.

"He's preparing and been planning for this opportunity someday. He is very astute X-and-O-wise, and his rep as a recruiter is there, because that's what people see. But in coaches' meetings, he is very savvy basketball-wise. His biggest challenge will be the same challenge Billy would face coaching an inexperienced team in a tough conference."

Gillispie went 8-23 in his lone season at Texas Tech, winning only one Big 12 game. Since the end of the season, six players have transferred, and the remaining players in late August went to athletics director Kirby Hocutt to complain about mental abuse and torturous practices. Gillispie then was in and out of hospitals for weeks as he struggled to deal with high blood pressure and a stress disorder before resigning under pressure on Sept. 20.

Walker, a Houston native, has held the roster together during the two months of turmoil. Steve Alford, his former boss at New Mexico, says Walker might be perfect for this challenging job.

"He's a Texas guy," Alford told ESPN. "He knows how to recruit and has a very good basketball IQ. He has good knowledge of the game and how to develop a program. The challenges are, if given the interim position, you must win quickly, and that's going to be a huge challenge this year."

Texas Tech has failed to reach any notable heights since Bob Knight took the Red Raidersto the NCAA regional semi-finals in 2005. Knight, who came to Texas Tech in March 2001 after leading Indiana to three national championships, resigned midseason in February 2008 and was succeeded by his son, Pat.

The younger Knight, who Texas Tech tapped as head coach designate a couple of years before his father resigned, was let go after 3 1/2 years. He now coaches at Lamar in Beaumont.